Graphic design, printing and innovative packaging / manufacturing company.
Aka - Album Graphics Inc, AGI, Inc.
Please also see corresponding artist page AGI (4) and company profiles AGI, USA and AGI Media.
Album Graphics Inc, was established in the U.S in 1968 by founder Donald Kosterka, Jim Ladwig and Richard Block.
As of 1973 AGI had facilities in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London for album design, packaging and printing.
In 1986 the company developed and patented a new innovative packaging product as an alternative to the Jewel case, which later became widely known as the Digipak®, In the following years other types of multimedia packaging were added to the Digipak® brand - including the Digi-lite®, DVDigipak®, etc. which were licensed to 3 licensees in the U.S. and 8 worldwide including Ivy Hill, Tinsley Robor Group Ltd. and Van De Steeg.
In march 1998 AGI merges with Klearfold Inc, to form the Impac Group Inc., subsequently in September 1998 Impac acquires Tinsley Robor Group Ltd. & subsidiaries. In 2000 AGI acquires Amaray / Amaray International Corp (Dubois Ltd) a innovative packaging & injection moulding company with facilities in the UK, U.S. and Germany and whom had previously developed and the manufacturer of the Amaray®, RedTag® brand.
On July 11, 2000 the Impac Group is acquired by Westvaco, later to become MeadWestvaco who had subsequently purchased Polymatrix (Lakewood Mold) a company which AGI had worked closer with to develop the Digi-tray in 1989 and who had developed the Snapper DVD pack for Warner Bros in 1996.
In 2010, parent company MeadWestvaco (MWV) agreed to sell its Media & Entertainment business, AGI World operating as AGI Media, AGI Amaray and AGI Polymatrix, to Atlas Industrial Holding Company LLC. In 2012 Atlas Holdings merges AGI World with International Papers Shorewood Packaging to create ASG (AGI-Shorewood Group).
Headquartered in London, England, ASG (AGI-Shorewood Group) operates 17 facilities in England, Ireland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Australia, and the United States.
The graphic designer Richard Mantel was known as one of their designers among others, during the 70s.